Thomas Tallis | Classical-Music.com Past Issues Thomas Tallis Thomas Tallis is a biographer’s challenge and a musicological detective’s delight. From the scant records that survive, we know that his world extended from Dover and the nearby Isle of Thanet to Westminster and Waltham Cross. He reached old age, but we cannot be certain about the precise year of his birth (1505?). He spent his final years, by then a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal, in Greenwich and was buried in the parish church of St Alfege. He married in middle age and appears to have died childless. Prosperity and financial hardship marked various points of his career, as did mundane duties such as teaching musical rudiments to the Chapel Royal’s boys. It seems his faith endured in an age of religious upheaval. ‘Tallis is dead, and music dies.’ Fellow composer William Byrd’s moving valediction spoke for all touched by Tallis’s example as a maker of music, teacher and composer in service to four English monarchs. The question ‘Who was Tallis?’ is, in many ways, secondary to the question ‘What was Tallis?’.

Younger colleagues knew that he had made a lasting contribution as a composer of church music, as did the Elizabethan copyists who preserved outmoded works from Tallis’s early years. Their high estimation of the man set foundations for his posthumous fame. There could be no finer example to follow than Tallis. Age certainly did little to temper his creative powers. The famous 40-part motet Spem in alium dates from its composer’s sixth decade; the smaller but no less refined In ieiunio et fletu, meanwhile, perhaps dates from his 70th year. Composers of Byrd’s generation forged careers and reputations at a time of growing stability, after the strict imposition of Edward VI’s Protestant reforms and the persecutory bonfires of Mary Tudor’s reign. Tallis, born in the 16th century’s first decade, came of age as a musician under a system wedded to pre-Reformation customs and rites. He went on to write music for a church unrecognisable from that of his upbringing. The fall out from Henry VIII’s break with the Roman Church followed Tallis to Waltham Abbey, one of the last great monastic complexes to be dissolved.

As a newcomer to the Augustinian foundation’s musical establishment, he was granted a 20 shilling pay-off and also appears to have gained a music theory book from the Abbey’s library. His early Latin works, written before and after Henry’s reformation, show how Tallis assimilated conservative aspects of English sacred polyphony, elaborate melodic lines and sonorous textures among them, with advanced techniques from the continent. The output of Tallis’s middle years bears witness both to the excellence of his craft and the far reaches of his invention. It also reflects the history of a nation in the grip of religious revolution and counter-revolution. Tallis proved to be an expert trimmer. In the late 1540s, he was among the first to write music for the new Anglican Church. The anthem If ye love me observed the demands of Archbishop Thomas Cranmer and other reformers for clear English-language settings without slavishly setting every syllable to a single note. In short, his was an innovative response to the musical requirements of the Edwardian church.

When the Catholic Mary Tudor succeeded her half-brother Edward VI in 1553, Tallis retraced his musical roots and supplied her Chapel Royal with a Latin festal mass, soaring antiphons and responsories. His seven-voice Mass Puer natus est nobis was probably first heard at Christmas 1554 while Philip II of Spain was in London. Tallis drew on his experience of writing for the Latin liturgy in the time of Mary’s father, Henry VIII. He helped revive and preserve an old tradition, surpassing the sacred compositions of his youth. Within the time it took to change royal regimes and their attendant religious practices, Tallis was able to shift from Anglican innovator to Catholic renovator, polishing and perfecting past techniques in his works for the old queen. His votive antiphon Gaude gloriosa Dei mater, for example, possibly began life as an English-texted piece in the last years of Henry VIII. In its final Latin form, Gaude gloriosa is the most impressive of all works written during Mary’s reign. Elizabeth I’s accession in 1558 called for a second about-turn.

Under the puritanical terms of the early Elizabethan religious settlement, Tallis proceeded to dust down techniques pioneered in his experimental compositions for Edward VI’s church. His English church music includes functional settings of the new Anglican liturgy, the nine four-voice psalm tunes for Archbishop Matthew Parker’s Psalter of 1567 sublime among them. The latter includes a memorable setting of Psalm 2, ‘Why fum’th in fight the Gentiles spite’, which supplied Vaughan Williams with the raw material for his Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis in 1910. The list of English sacred works includes such ambitious pieces as the Te Deum for five voices and a frustratingly high percentage of fragmentary or lost compositions. The surviving works suggest by their quality that Tallis invested considerable professional pride, meticulous craftmanship and no little imagination in their creation. They served their purpose, satisfied the musical demands and limitations of the 1549 and 1552 prayer books, and created standard models for future settings of Anglican services. Music may not have died with Tallis, but it was certainly reduced by his passing.

The musical antiquarian Charles Burney hit the mark in the third volume of his A General History of Music, published two centuries after the composer’s death. Tallis, he observed, was ‘one of the greatest musicians, not only of this country, but of Europe, during the 16th century, in which so many able contrapuntists were produced.’ Andrew Stewart Thomas Tallis - Free sheet music to download in PDF, MP3 & Midi Thomas Tallis "For 15 years we provide a free and legal service for free sheet music. If you use and like Free-scores.com, thank you to consider support donation. Thomas Tallis (1510 - 1585) United Kingdom Thomas Tallis (c 1510?23 November 1585) was an English composer. Tallis flourished as a church musician during the often stormy sixteenth century in England. He occupies a primary place in anthologies of English church music, and is considered among the best of its earliest composers. Little is known about his early life, but there seems to be agreement that he was born around 1505, toward the close of the reign of Henry VII.

His first known appointment to a musical position was as organist of Dover Priory, a Benedictine priory at Dover (now Dover College) in 1532. His career took him to London, then organist of Waltham Abbey, until the abbey was dissolved in 1540, then Canterbury Cathedral, and finally to court as Gentleman of the Chapel Royal in 1543, composing and performing for Henry VIII, Edward VI, Queen Mary, and Queen Elizabeth. He remained in the service of the Sovereign for the rest of his life as organist and composer, avoiding the religious controversies that raged around him. The earliest works by Tallis that survive are devotional antiphons to the Virgin Mary, which were used outside the liturgy and were cultivated in England until the fall of Cardinal Wolsey. Henry VIII's break with Roman Catholicism in 1534 and the rise of Thomas Cranmer noticeably influenced the style of music written. Texts became largely confined to the liturgy. The writing of Tallis and his contemporaries became less florid, with marked tendency toward a syllabic and chordal style and a diminished use of melisma.

The reformed Anglican liturgy was inaugurated during the short reign of Edward VI (1547-1553), and Tallis was one of the first church musicians to write anthems set to English words, although Latin continued to be used also. Following the accession of the Catholic Mary, the Roman rite was restored and compositional style reverted to the elaborate writing prevalent early in the century. Two of Tallis' major works, Gaude gloriosa Dei Mater and the Christmas Mass Puer natus est nobis are from this period. As was the prevailing practice, these pieces were intended to exalt the image of the Queen as well as to praise the Mother of God. Elizabeth succeeded her half-sister in 1558, and the Act of Settlement in the following year abolished the Roman liturgy and firmly established the Book of Common Prayer. Composers at court resumed writing English anthems, although the practice of setting Latin texts continued, growing more peripheral over time. The mood of the country in the beginning of Elizabeth's reign leant toward the puritan, which discouraged the liturgical polyphony.

Tallis wrote nine psalm chant tunes in parts for Archbishop Parker's Psalter (the 'Third Mode Melody') published in 1567. One of the nine tunes inspired the composition of Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis by Ralph Vaughan Williams in 1910. Tallis' better-known works from the Elizabethan years include his settings of the Lamentations (of Jeremiah the Prophet) for the Holy Week services and the unique motet Spem in alium written for eight five-voice choirs. It is thought that this 40-voice piece was part of a celebration of the Queen's 40th birthday in 1573. Toward the end of his life, Tallis resisted the musical development seen in his younger contemporaries like William Byrd, who embraced compositional complexity and adopted texts built by combining disparate biblical extracts. Tallis was content to draw his texts from the liturgy and write for the worship services in the Chapel Royal. Tallis remained a Catholic his whole life, and was well-regarded by the four Sovereigns he served. Mary granted him a lease on a manor in Kent that provided a comfortable annual income.

Elizabeth granted to Tallis and Byrd a patent to print and publish music, which was one of the first arrangements of that type in the country. He retained respect during a succession of opposing religious movements and deflected the violence that claimed Catholics and Protestants alike. Thomas Tallis died peacefully in his house in Greenwich in November 1585, and was buried in the chancel of the parish of St Alfege's Church. A couplet from his epitaph reads: Thomas Tallis music | Composers List of compositions by Thomas Tallis Early works The earliest surviving works by Tallis, Salve intemerata virgo, Ave rosa sine spinis and Ave Dei patris filia are devotional antiphons to the Virgin Mary , which were used outside the liturgy and were cultivated in England until the fall of Cardinal Wolsey . Henry VIII 's break with Roman Catholicism in 1534 and the rise of Thomas Cranmer noticeably influenced the style of music written. Texts became largely confined to the liturgy. The writing of Tallis and his contemporaries became less florid. Tallis's Mass for four voices is marked with tendencies toward a syllabic and chordal style and a diminished use of melisma .

Tallis provides a rhythmic variety and differentiation of moods depending on the meaning of his texts (Manderson 86). Tallis helped found a relationship that was specific to the combining of words and music (Phillips 11). The reformed Anglican liturgy was inaugurated during the short reign of Edward VI (1547-1553), and Tallis was one of the first church musicians to write anthems set to English words, although Latin continued to be used. The Catholic Mary Tudor set about undoing the religious reforms of the preceding decades. Following the accession of the Catholic Mary in 1553, the Roman Rite was restored and compositional style reverted to the elaborate writing prevalent early in the century. Two of Tallis's major works, Gaude gloriosa Dei Mater and the Christmas Mass Puer natus est nobis are believed to be from this period. Only Puer natus est nobis can be accurately dated in 1554. As was the prevailing practice, these pieces were intended to exalt the image of the Queen as well as to praise the Mother of God .

Elizabeth succeeded her half-sister in 1558, and the Act of Settlement in the following year abolished the Roman Liturgy and firmly established the Book of Common Prayer . Composers at court resumed writing English anthems, although the practice of setting Latin texts continued, growing more peripheral over time. The mood of the country in the beginning of Elizabeth's reign leant toward the puritan, which discouraged the liturgical polyphony . Tallis wrote nine psalm chant tunes for four voices for Archbishop Parker 's Psalter, published in 1567. One of the nine tunes, the "Third Mode Melody", inspired the composition of Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis by Ralph Vaughan Williams in 1910 (Steinberg 291). Tallis's better-known works from the Elizabethan years include his settings of the Lamentations (of Jeremiah the Prophet) (Thomas 136) for the Holy Week services and the unique motet Spem in alium written for eight five-voice choirs (Barber 34). It is thought that this 40-voice piece was part of a celebration of the Queen's 40th birthday in 1573.

Tallis is mostly remembered for his role in composing office hymns and this motet, Spem in alium (Cohn-Sherbok 285). Later works Toward the end of his life, Tallis resisted the musical development seen in his younger contemporaries such as William Byrd , who embraced compositional complexity and adopted texts built by combining disparate biblical extracts (Lord 69). Tallis' experiments during this time period were considered rather unusual (Phillips 11). Tallis was content to draw his texts from the Liturgy (Farrell 125) and wrote for the worship services in the Chapel Royal (Farrell 125). In 1543, he probably began to serve full time as a member of the Chapel Royal. The Chapel Royal later became a Protestant establishment (Farrell 125). Tallis has been variously claimed to be a Protestant, Catholic, and a religious Pragmatist. Mary granted him a lease on a manor in Kent that provided a comfortable annual income (Holman 24).

Elizabeth granted to Tallis and Byrd a twenty-one year monopoly in 1575 for polyphonic music (Holman 1) and a patent to print and publish music, which was one of the first arrangements of that type in the country (Thomas 137). Tallis' monopoly covered 'set songe or songes in parts, and he was able to compose in English, Latin, French, Italian, or other tongues as long as they served for music in the Church or chamber (Holman 1). Tallis had exclusive rights to print any music, in any language (Barber 25). He and William Byrd were the only ones allowed to use the paper that was used in printing music ( Barber 25). Tallis and Byrd used their monopoly to produce Cantiones quae ab argumento sacrae vocantur but the piece did not sell well and they appealed to Queen Elizabeth for her support (Holman 1). Tallis and Byrd could work for two opposing religions as long as they did not bring their beliefs into their jobs (Lord 135).

He retained respect during a succession of opposing religious movements and deflected the violence that claimed Catholics and Protestants alike (Gatens 181). Tallis endured a difficult period during the time of the church and his music often displays characteristics of the turmoil (Gatens 181). Thomas Tallis died peacefully in his house in Greenwich in November 1585 on either the 20th or 23rd. He was buried in the chancel of the parish of St Alfege's Church . A couplet from his epitaph reads: As he did live, so also did he die, In mild and quiet Sort (O! happy Man). Byrd wrote the musical elegy Ye Sacred Muses on Tallis's death. Gimell Records - The Tallis Christmas Mass The Tallis Christmas Mass CDGIM 034 Total Playing Time 56 minutes "Not long ago neither Tallis's Missa Puer natus est nobis nor his antiphon Ave Dei patris filia could have been recorded: the manuscripts for some of the voice-parts were missing and were believed to be lost for ever.

It is a privilege to put such significant works together on disc for the first time." Peter Phillips This recording of the Missa Puer natus est nobis is also available on Christmas with The Tallis Scholars . These recordings of the Magnificat and Ave, Dei patris filia are also available on The Tallis Scholars sing Thomas Tallis and this recording of Audivi vocem is also available on The Essential Tallis Scholars . Our fourth disc dedicated to the music of Thomas Tallis contains two of his most substantial masterpieces - the seven-part Christmas Mass Puer natus est nobis and the antiphon Ave Dei patris filia. Not long ago neither of these pieces could have been recorded: the manuscripts for some of the voice-parts were missing and were believed to be lost for ever. It is a privilege to put such significant works together on disc for the first time. Tallis's Mass Puer natus est nobis, based on the Christmas plainchant of the same name, is the most elaborate setting of the Ordinary to come from England in the middle of the 16th century; it is also by far the most elaborate by Tallis himself.

Its scale is determined by the way the plainchant is distributed through the polyphony. This is done in quite exceptionally long notes, always in the tenor, in a style which had been popular in England (and elsewhere) early in the century but of which no example from later than about 1540 is otherwise known. The cantus firmus thus makes the movements lengthy in performance; but Tallis's music is also substantial vertically, requiring an unusual choir of seven voices, scored mean, mean, alto, alto, tenor, bass, bass. Since all these voices are used almost continuously - there are no scorings down to trios and quartets as was customary in earlier festal masses - the cumulative effect really is massive. In our interpretation we have encouraged this in-built sonority to speak for itself by making the phrases as spacious as possible. There can be no doubt that Tallis wrote this piece for a big occasion.

Although there is no conclusive proof, the evidence of the choice of chant, the archaicising in having a long-note cantus firmus against the dramatically more modern (and Flemish) use of imitation between the voices, and the sheer scale, suggests it was composed for the visit of Philip II of Spain to England in 1554, when he married Queen Mary. It is known that Philip was in the country on Christmas Day and it is well known that English Catholics were hoping Mary would give birth to a son and heir (so the words Puer natus est nobis probably had a double relevance). But for Tallis perhaps the most significant aspect of the festivities was that Philip had brought with him his famous Capilla Flamenca, or Flemish Chapel Choir. This would have put Tallis very considerably on his professional mettle, since it contained some of the leading names in Flemish composition, including Philippe de Monte. He chose to impress them by combining old techniques with new in a virtuoso mix; he also preferred a thick, essentially Flemish sonority over the more traditionally spacious English scoring involving the high treble voice, which he did make use of in other music dating from Mary's reign.

The strong Flemish references in Puer natus est nobis were surely deliberate. Despite the discoveries of recent years which have rendered Puer natus est nobis complete enough to perform in three of its movements, the Credo is still almost wholly missing (apart from the final phrase from "Et expecto"). Of the others the Gloria is entire but the Sanctus is lacking its second alto in the opening section. The Agnus Dei is the least complete, missing the second alto throughout and the first bass during the first two invocations. These parts were supplied by David Wulstan and Sally Dunkley. Missing also is a rational explanation for why Tallis broke the Puer natus est nobis plainchant up as he did to form the cantus firmus. As Wulstan and Dunkley observe, its tones are: "neither given in long notes of equal value, nor in decorated form. Instead they are arranged rhythmically according to a cabalistic pattern, the significance of which is difficult to discern". There are one or two obvious pointers: the Gloria states the whole cantus firmus once - this is the first four phrases of the plainchant.

The Sanctus begins with a strict diminution of the first part of the plainchant used in the Gloria, then repeats it in retrograde. However after this there are repetitions and retrogrades which seem to be random. One of the most challenging aspects of having a cantus firmus which moves so slowly is the rate of harmonic turnover. As a result of it Tallis was obliged to maintain the same underlying harmony, often for several bars at a time, sometimes for many. At one point in the Agnus Dei the tenor maintains an A flat almost unbroken for 31 consecutive bars. This throws the burden of interest on the part-writing around the tenor, which Tallis promoted by the most resourceful use of imitation. One impressive aspect of his achievement was to give this most solid of conceptions some irresistible rhythmic energy (for example in the Hosannas). On the other hand in the Agnus Dei the inherent harmonic quietness of the long notes creates a perfect mood for the text, enabling Tallis to write some mesmerising repetitions, almost mantra-like. Taken all together the techniques contained in Puer natus est nobis make it a most unusual composition.

Audivi vocem and the four-voice Magnificat are considerably more compact than Puer natus est nobis partly because Tallis left half their texts in plainchant. Audivi vocem is one of his most purely beautiful compositions. A setting of the respond at the service of Matins on All Saints Day, it makes use of Sarum Rite chant, which means it must have been written before 1559 when this rite was finally abandoned. The style of the music, however, suggests a date rather earlier than Mary's reign, with its avoidance of imitation and uninflectedly modal harmonies. The four-part Magnificat appears to be very early, indeed there are moments in it - like the downward scale at "Et sanctum nomen eius" - when it gives the impression of being an apprentice piece. Certainly its texture of four voices singing within an overall compass of two octaves and a tone has an archaic sound, reminiscent of some of Taverner's writing, which is also recalled in the actual polyphonic detail. Like many late medieval English Magnificat settings it is based on a faburden tenor.

In our performance this is sung by altos, since we have scored the piece for two means, alto and tenor (the original bass part); but its narrow compass means it could be sung at a number of different pitches. Ave Dei patris filia is one of five votive antiphons by Tallis, four of them (Ave rosa; Salve intemerata (1); Ave Dei patris filia and Gaude gloriosa (2); the exception is Sancte Deus (2)) containing some of his most spacious lines. Until David Skinner recently found some missing material in the British Library, Ave Dei patris filia had long been considered to be unreconstructable, and even now it lacks its tenor until the final page and its treble in the first part of the "Amen". Nonetheless Skinner's detective work and subsequent reconstruction have revealed a major addition to Tallis's oeuvre, and one which does not exactly duplicate the style of any of the other antiphons.

It is interesting to observe that in this instance - and not in any of the others - Tallis was contributing to a tradition of settings of a text: amongst the other composers to have chosen Ave Dei patris filia were Fayrfax, Taverner, Marbecke and Robert Johnson, alongside two earlier anonymous ones, all of them in the traditional five-part scoring of treble, mean, alto, tenor and bass. The text has seven stanzas, of which the last is extended, the number seven often having been associated with the Virgin, most obviously in the Feasts of the Seven Joys and Seven Sorrows. Each stanza begins with the word "Ave", and each begins a new section in the music, which mostly involves a change in scoring. To create a strong half-way point Tallis joins stanzas three and four into a long full section; and he is able to do the same at the end with the extended seventh stanza, building its Amen into something magnificent. In between are some substantial trios and one duet (stanza six). Twice the initial "Ave" is given special emphasis by the marking of fermatas (or pauses) over each of its syllables.

Though all of Tallis's antiphons are fairly early works, Ave Dei patris filia gives the impression of being one of his first mature compositions (contemporary with the Magnificat and earlier than Audivi vocem and Puer natus est nobis), probably written in the 1530s. It shows signs of being an apprentice work in the closeness with which it follows the layout and detail of Fayrfax's setting of the same text, especially at the beginning, at "Ave aeterne", and largely in the overall scoring. In fact, as Dr Skinner has shown, it was possible to identify where the missing tenor part sounded in the Tallis from a close study of Fayrfax's own scoring. Ave Dei patris filia also shows the strong influence of John Taverner's music, though in fact Tallis amalgamated two contrasted, though not contemporaneous, elements in Taverner's style.

On the one hand he chose to write a full-length festal votive antiphon while, like Taverner, avoiding the kind of purely virtuosic display in the vocal lines which is more often found in similar works by Cornysh and Browne; on the other he regularly deployed one of Taverner's favourite techniques from his later and more compact non-festal antiphons - creating answering phrases in the full sections between the two top voices and the three lower ones with almost syllabic word setting. Somehow, by working quite brief motifs on a festal scale, Tallis was able to conceive some of the most memorable writing in all his pre-Reformation compositions - "semper virgo Maria" just before the Amen is a perfect case in point. There is nothing flamboyant about this, and yet this music seems to have all the time and spaciousness associated with the old festal antiphon, and the late medieval world which promoted it. ©1998 Peter Phillips Thomas Tallis - Hymnary.org Log in to make the most of Hymnary.org collections. Thomas Tallis Death Year: 1585 Thomas Tallis (c.

1505 – 23 November 1585) was an English composer. Tallis flourished as a church musician in 16th century Tudor England. He occupies a primary place in anthologies of English church music, and is considered one of England's greatest early composers. He is honoured for his original voice in English musicianship. No contemporary portrait of Tallis survives: the earliest, painted by Gerard van der Gucht, dates from 150 years after Tallis died, and there is no certainty that it is a likeness. Little is known about Tallis's early life, but there seems to be agreement that he was born in the early 16th century, toward the close of the reign of Henry VII. Little is known about Tallis's childhood and his significance with music at that age. However, there are suggestions that he was a child of the chapel royal St. James's palace, the same singing establishment which he later went to as a man. His first known appointment to a musical position was as organist of Dover Priory in 1530–31, a Benedictine priory at Dover (now Dover College) in 1532.

His career took him to London, then (probably in the autumn of 1538) to the Augustinian abbey of Holy Cross at Waltham until the abbey was dissolved in 1540. Tallis acquired a volume at the dissolution of the monastery of Waltham Holy Cross and preserved it; one of the treatises in it was by Leonel Power, and the treatise itself prohibits consecutive unisons, fifths, and octaves. Tallis's next post was at Canterbury Cathedral. He was next sent to Court as Gentleman of the Chapel Royal in 1543 (which later became a Protestant establishment), where he composed and performed for Henry VIII, Edward VI (1547–1553), Queen Mary (1553–1558), and Queen Elizabeth I (1558 until Tallis died in 1585). Throughout his service to successive monarchs as organist and composer, Tallis avoided the religious controversies that raged around him, though, like William Byrd, he stayed an "unreformed Roman Catholic." Tallis was capable of switching the style of his compositions to suit the different monarchs' vastly different demands.

Among other important composers of the time, including Christopher Tye and Robert White, Tallis stood out. Walker observes, "He had more versatility of style than either, and his general handling of his material was more consistently easy and certain." Tallis was also a teacher, not only of William Byrd, but also of Elway Bevin, an organist of Bristol Cathedral and gentleman of the Chapel Royal. Tallis married around 1552; his wife, Joan, outlived him by four years. They apparently had no children. Late in his life he lived in Greenwich, possibly close to the royal palace: a local tradition holds that he lived on Stockwell Street. Queen Mary granted Tallis a lease on a manor in Kent that provided a comfortable annual income. In 1575, Queen Elizabeth granted to him and William Byrd a 21-year monopoly for polyphonic music and a patent to print and publish music, which was one of the first arrangements of that type in the country. Tallis's monopoly covered 'set songe or songes in parts', and he composed in English, Latin, French, Italian, or other tongues as long as they served for music in the Church or chamber.

Tallis had exclusive rights to print any music, in any language. He and William Byrd were the only ones allowed to use the paper that was used in printing music. Tallis and Byrd used their monopoly to produce Cantiones quae ab argumento sacrae vocantur but the piece did not sell well and they appealed to Queen Elizabeth for her support. People were naturally wary of their new publications, and it certainly did not help their case that they were both avowed Roman Catholics. Not only that, they were strictly forbidden to sell any imported music. "We straightly by the same forbid...to be brought out of any forren Realmes...any songe or songes made and printed in any foreen countrie." Also, Byrd and Tallis were not given "the rights to music type fonts, printing patents were not under their command, and they didn't actually own a printing press." Tallis retained respect during a succession of opposing religious movements and deflected the violence that claimed Catholics and Protestants alike. Thomas Tallis died peacefully in his house in Greenwich in November 1585. Most historians agree that he died on the twenty-third.

He was buried in the chancel of the parish of St Alfege's Church in Greenwich. The earliest surviving works by Tallis, Salve intemerata virgo, Ave rosa sine spinis and Ave Dei patris filia are devotional antiphons to the Virgin Mary, which were used outside the liturgy and were cultivated in England until the fall of Cardinal Wolsey. Henry VIII's break with Roman Catholicism in 1534 and the rise of Thomas Cranmer noticeably influenced the style of music written. Texts became largely confined to the liturgy. The writing of Tallis and his contemporaries became less florid. Tallis's Mass for four voices is marked with tendencies toward a syllabic (which is a setting of text where each syllable is sung to one pitch) and chordal (consisting of or emphasising chords) style and a diminished use of melisma. Tallis provides a rhythmic variety and differentiation of moods depending on the meaning of his texts. Tallis helped found a relationship that was specific to the combining of words and music. He also wrote several excellent Lutheran chorales.

The reformed Anglican liturgy was inaugurated during the short reign of Edward VI (1547–53), and Tallis was one of the first church musicians to write anthems set to English words, although Latin continued to be used. The Catholic Mary Tudor set about undoing the religious reforms of the preceding decades. Following her accession in 1553, the Roman Rite was restored and compositional style reverted to the elaborate writing prevalent early in the century. Two of Tallis's major works, Gaude gloriosa Dei Mater and the Christmas Mass Puer natus est nobis are believed to be from this period. Only Puer natus est nobis can be accurately dated to 1554. As was the prevailing practice, these pieces were intended to exalt the image of the Queen as well as to praise the Mother of God. Some of Tallis's works were compiled and printed in the Mulliner Book by Thomas Mulliner before Queen Elizabeth's reign, and may have been used by the Queen herself when she was younger. Elizabeth succeeded her half-sister in 1558, and the Act of Settlement in the following year abolished the Roman Liturgy and firmly established the Book of Common Prayer.

Composers at court resumed writing English anthems, although the practice of setting Latin texts continued, growing more peripheral over time. The mood of the country in the beginning of Elizabeth's reign leant toward the puritan, which discouraged the liturgical polyphony. Tallis wrote nine psalm chant tunes for four voices for Archbishop Parker's Psalter, published in 1567. One of the nine tunes, the "Third Mode Melody", inspired the composition of Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis by Ralph Vaughan Williams in 1910. Tallis's better-known works from the Elizabethan years include his settings of the Lamentations (of Jeremiah the Prophet)for the Holy Week services and the unique motet Spem in alium written for eight five-voice choirs. Tallis is mostly remembered for his role in composing office hymns and this motet, Spem in alium. Too often we forget to look at his compositions for other monarchs; several of Tallis's anthems written in Edward's reign such as his "If ye love me," ought to be considered on the same level as his Elizabethan works.

This is partially because we do not have all of his works from previous periods; eleven of eighteen Latin-texted pieces by Tallis from Elizabeth's reign were published, "which ensured their survival in a way not available to the earlier material." Toward the end of his life, Tallis resisted the musical development seen in his younger contemporaries such as William Byrd, who embraced compositional complexity and adopted texts built by combining disparate biblical extracts. Tallis's experiments during this time period were considered rather unusual. Tallis was content to draw his texts from the Liturgy and wrote for the worship services in the Chapel Royal. Tallis composed during a difficult period during the conflict between Catholicism and Protestantism, and his music often displays characteristics of the turmoil. --en.wikipedia.org (excerpts) Thomas Tallis T Thomas Tallis Thomas Tallis (c. 1505 – 23 November 1585) was an English composer . Tallis flourished as a church musician in 16th century England. He occupies a primary place in anthologies of English church music, and is considered among the best of England's early composers. He is honoured for his original voice in English musicianship.

Early life Little is known about Tallis's early life, but there seems to be agreement that he was born in the early 16th century, toward the close of the reign of Henry VII. His first known appointment to a musical position was as organist of Dover Priory in 1530-31, a Benedictine priory at Dover (now Dover College) in 1532. His career took him to London, then (probably in the autumn of 1538) to the Augustinian abbey of Holy Cross at Waltham until the abbey was dissolved in 1540; then he went to Canterbury Cathedral, and finally to Court as Gentleman of the Chapel Royal in 1543, composing and performing for Henry VIII during which he wrote music for the Church of England (Holman 201), Edward VI (1547-1553), Queen Mary (1553-1558), and Queen Elizabeth I (1558 until he died in 1585) (Thomas 136).

Throughout his service to successive monarchs as organist and composer, Tallis avoided the religious controversies that raged around him, though, like William Byrd , he stayed an "unreformed Roman Catholic ." Tallis married around 1552; his wife, Joan, outlived him by four years. They apparently had no children. Late in his life he lived in Greenwich , likely close to the royal palace: a local tradition holds that he lived on Stockwell Street. Works List of compositions by Thomas Tallis Early works The earliest surviving works by Tallis, Salve intemerata virgo, Ave rosa sine spinis and Ave Dei patris filia are devotional antiphons to the Virgin Mary, which were used outside the liturgy and were cultivated in England until the fall of Cardinal Wolsey. Henry VIII's break with Roman Catholicism in 1534 and the rise of Thomas Cranmer noticeably influenced the style of music written. Texts became largely confined to the liturgy. The writing of Tallis and his contemporaries became less florid. Tallis's Mass for four voices is marked with tendencies toward a syllabic and chordal style and a diminished use of melisma.

Tallis provides a rhythmic variety and differentiation of moods depending on the meaning of his texts (Manderson 86). Tallis helped found a relationship that was specific to the combining of words and music (Phillips 11). The reformed Anglican liturgy was inaugurated during the short reign of Edward VI (1547-1553), and Tallis was one of the first church musicians to write anthems set to English words, although Latin continued to be used. The Catholic Mary Tudor set about undoing the religious reforms of the preceding decades. Following the accession of the Catholic Mary in 1553, the Roman Rite was restored and compositional style reverted to the elaborate writing prevalent early in the century. Two of Tallis's major works, [ Gaude gloriosa Dei Mater] and the Christmas Mass Puer natus est nobis are believed to be from this period. Only Puer natus est nobis can be accurately dated in 1554. As was the prevailing practice, these pieces were intended to exalt the image of the Queen as well as to praise the Mother of God.

Elizabeth succeeded her half-sister in 1558, and the Act of Settlement in the following year abolished the Roman Liturgy and firmly established the Book of Common Prayer . Composers at court resumed writing English anthems, although the practice of setting Latin texts continued, growing more peripheral over time. The mood of the country in the beginning of Elizabeth's reign leant toward the puritan, which discouraged the liturgical polyphony . Tallis wrote nine psalm chant tunes for four voices for Archbishop Parker's Psalter, published in 1567. One of the nine tunes, the "Third Mode Melody", inspired the composition of Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis by Ralph Vaughan Williams in 1910 (Steinberg 291). Tallis's better-known works from the Elizabethan years include his settings of the Lamentations (of Jeremiah the Prophet) (Thomas 136) for the Holy Week services and the unique motet Spem in alium written for eight five-voice choirs (Barber 34). It is thought that this 40-voice piece was part of a celebration of the Queen's 40th birthday in 1573.

Tallis is mostly remembered for his role in composing office hymns and this motet, Spem in alium (Cohn-Sherbok 285). Later works Toward the end of his life, Tallis resisted the musical development seen in his younger contemporaries such as William Byrd, who embraced compositional complexity and adopted texts built by combining disparate biblical extracts (Lord 69). Tallis' experiments during this time period were considered rather unusual (Phillips 11). Tallis was content to draw his texts from the Liturgy (Farrell 125) and wrote for the worship services in the Chapel Royal (Farrell 125). In 1543, he probably began to serve full time as a member of the Chapel Royal. The Chapel Royal later became a Protestant establishment (Farrell 125). Tallis has been variously claimed to be a Protestant, Catholic, and a religious Pragmatist. Mary granted him a lease on a manor in Kent that provided a comfortable annual income (Holman 24).

Elizabeth granted to Tallis and Byrd a twenty-one year monopoly in 1575 for polyphonic music (Holman 1) and a patent to print and publish music, which was one of the first arrangements of that type in the country (Thomas 137). Tallis' monopoly covered 'set songe or songes in parts, and he was able to compose in English, Latin, French, Italian, or other tongues as long as they served for music in the Church or chamber (Holman 1). Tallis had exclusive rights to print any music, in any language (Barber 25). He and William Byrd were the only ones allowed to use the paper that was used in printing music ( Barber 25). Tallis and Byrd used their monopoly to produce Cantiones quae ab argumento sacrae vocantur but the piece did not sell well and they appealed to Queen Elizabeth for her support (Holman 1). Tallis and Byrd could work for two opposing religions as long as they did not bring their beliefs into their jobs (Lord 135).

He retained respect during a succession of opposing religious movements and deflected the violence that claimed Catholics and Protestants alike (Gatens 181). Tallis endured a difficult period during the time of the church and his music often displays characteristics of the turmoil (Gatens 181). Thomas Tallis died peacefully in his house in Greenwich in November 1585 on either the 20th or 23rd. He was buried in the chancel of the parish of St Alfege's Church. A couplet from his epitaph reads: As he did live, so also did he die, In mild and quiet Sort (O! happy Man). Byrd wrote the musical elegy Ye Sacred Muses on Tallis's death. (Wikipedia) Thomas Tallis (c.1505-1585) - A short biography & discography Thomas Tallis (c.1505-1585) - A short biography Despite his stature as one of the great composers of English sacred music, little is known about the personality of English composer Thomas Tallis (ca. 1505 - 1585).

The last two lines of his epitaph - "As he did live, so also did he die, in mild and quiet sort (O happy man!); To God full oft for mercy did he cry, wherefore he lives, let death do what it can." - allude to a quiet, pious man, but little else. Tallis' music, however, suggests much more. The composer lived in an England whose political and religious landscape was much more volatile than that of its 21st century counterpart. As monarchs changed - and Thomas Tallis saw four of them - so did the national faith. The pendulum swung from Catholic to Protestant to Catholic, and back to Protestant again. Both religions claimed numerous martyrs in defence of the "One True Faith;" kings and queens demanded different loyalties. And they also demanded liturgical music to fit the prevailing order of the day. Thus at least two conclusions can be drawn, reliably, about Tallis' personality from his work: first and most obvious, his creativity, and second, his adaptability.

His output, for the most part, did not display the floridity of composers like Cornysh; nor did he compose much in the way of madrigals or other secular music; his music demonstrated more restraint than the exuberance of his pupil Byrd. Much of Tallis' work possesses a moody, reflective quality (for example, Lamentations of Jeremiah, Suscipe quaeso, Miserere), but occasionally he could demonstrate supreme technical skill. The best, and most well-known, example may be the 40-part Spem in alium, with its amazing tapestry of voices, but one can also point to pieces such as the giant six-voice antiphon Gaude gloriosa (probably written to honour Queen Mary Tudor) and some of Tallis' intricate keyboard pieces, most notably the two Felix namque settings, displaying a spirit of experimentation wildly at odds with the more reserved nature of much of his music. As stated before, little is known about Thomas Tallis himself.

His date of birth is murky, and at best music history scholars can narrow it down to "about 1505." Tallis' musical education as a youth is not known either, though he was probably a choirboy somewhere (it has been suggested he was probably one of the "children of the Chapel Royal," but there is nothing to confirm this), as that was how many composers in his day learned their music. The first definite date marking the start of Tallis' musical career is 1532, when he was appointed organist of Benedictine Priory in Dover. The year 1537 found him at his second job, organist at St Mary-le-Hill in Billingsgate, London, and then on to Waltham Abbey in London until its dissolution in 1540 under Henry VIII. The unemployed Tallis then set out to find work, which he did in 1541 at Canterbury Cathedral as a lay clerk. Finally, he settled into the King's service, appointed as a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal in 1543. He sang with the Chapel Royal, played the organ, helped in running the choir, and continued to compose.

In 1575, with William Byrd, Tallis secured a monopoly on printing music and music paper in England. Tallis remained with the Chapel Royal until his death in 1585, while finding time to marry his wife Joan and taking on the young Byrd as a pupil (both probably around the same time, in 1552). While Tallis was undoubtedly composing before he entered the Chapel Royal - Missa salve intemerata, for example, was written by the young composer in the late 1520s or early 1530s - it was this move into the King's service which marked the real beginning of a career which would establish him as England's main composer of church music. Thomas Tallis would prove himself adept in writing for both the Catholic and Protestant liturgies. Born a Catholic, he managed to survive - apparently without being persecuted - as a member of the "Old Faith," while becoming the chief composer for the new Church of England.

For the Catholic Church he set Latin texts to music in the form of vocal polyphony; for the new Anglican Church he provided clear chordal settings for English texts, many of which are still used by church choirs today (Tallis' Canon is perhaps the best-known example). Though not as "in your face" about retaining his Catholic faith as Byrd was (Byrd was fined on several occasions for being a recusant), Tallis may have very well intended some of his pieces to make a point about the persecution of Catholics in a newly Protestant England. The haunting, expressive quality of his Lamentations of Jeremiah suggests desolation, penitence; the work, says Paul Doe, was more than likely not conceived as church music at all, "but rather for private recreational singing by loyal Catholics." For Tallis, the words "Ierusalem, Ierusalem, convertere ad Dominum Deum tuum" - Jerusalem, Jerusalem, return to the Lord your God - may have had special significance for Tallis, a Catholic in a Protestant country.

One of Tallis' most famous compositions, the 40-voice Spem in alium, also alludes to a strong allegiance to Roman Catholicism, with its mix of voices both polyphonic and chordal. Spem is also a work with an interesting history in its own right. It was ostensibly the result of a challenge by one of the composer's supporters, the Catholic Thomas Howard, fourth Duke of Norfolk (executed not long after as the result of trumped-up charges accusing Norfolk of colluding with Mary Queen of Scots). The work challenged was Striggio's 40-part Ecce beatum lautam; the challenge was for an Englishman to produce a work that would excel this piece produced by an Italian. Tallis answered the challenge, perhaps to defend England's creative honour; or to prove himself as an old man still capable of creating great work; or to produce - like many composers - a masterwork which history would remember him by. At any rate, Tallis set to work answering Howard's challenge.

And answer it he did: Apparently after its first performance at the palace of Nonsuch (or the Long Hall), owned by Henry Fitzalan, 12th Earl of Arundel, Spem in alium moved Thomas Howard enough to remove a heavy gold chain from around his neck, placing it around Tallis' own, thanking the older Thomas for the glorious piece he had crafted. Whether Tallis was a subversive Catholic, following one faith professionally but the other one in private, or merely demonstrating a love of the old liturgy he knew as a child, one may never know for certain, but it is clear that Thomas Tallis' music stands up not just for its creative merit, but as a reflection of one man's response to the tumultuous - and often treacherous - politics of Tudor England. Thomas Tallis (c.1505-1585) - Discography This by no means is meant to be a complete discography of Tallis' works; however it aims to indicate the variety of recordings now available.

While the name most commonly associated with the composer is his namesake ensemble, the Tallis Scholars, many other prominent groups such as the King's Singers, the Hilliard Ensemble and the Choir of St John's College, Cambridge have all recorded his works. Of special interest is a project by a group of London-based singers, the Chapelle du Roi, currently recording all of Tallis's complete known works in a nine-CD set. Another disc by Danish ensemble Ars Nova is notable for the two Felix namque settings - virtuoso pieces Tallis wrote for keyboard - featuring Lars Ulrik Mortensen on harpsichord. Tallis: Spem in alium, etc. The Choir of King's College, Cambridge, Stephen Cleobury (director)

Question: Which 16th century English composer's works include 'Gaude Gloriosa Dei Mater' and the Christmas mass Puer Natus est Nobis"?
Answer: THOMAS TALLIS